In the Core of a Ruby
by BritaChica
Summary: This may seem Cliché but I'm going to try and make it original. Ron is a Deatheater, first person POV. Chapter four posted.
1. Burning in a Lake Full of Ice

In The Core Of A Ruby by Brita*Chica 

A/N: Okay- I haven't worked out all the little details yet- like the title's meaning for instance- but I know that main plot. Ron, deatheater, yadda yadda yadda cliché I suppose. Anyway- please review. 

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, all related characters and settings belong to J. K. Rowling. Anything that ends up original belongs to me. 

Chapter One: Burning In A Lake Full Of Ice

Silently. Watching. Waiting. Brain and body too tired to move anymore, I await my death. 

It's like watching your own body burning in a lake full of ice. 

Unbelievable yet, still happening. Still being real. 

Still correct. 

In times gone by I would have been set upon by Dementors. Not killed. 

They switched though, the Dementors. They swapped sides. Went after their true yearnings. 

I have been offered a choice. I can die a 'horrible and gruesome death' or I can give up the current location of my master's whereabouts. 

I don't move. Don't speak. Can't move. Can't speak more like. I'm exhausted. The poison is swimming through me. It will destroy me before I can tell anyone anything. 

When a person is scared they can not be trusted to do the just and loyal thing everytime. I do not want to go to my death labelled a traitor. 

That thought is compleatly incomprehensible. 

Actually- most thoughts are now. 

The poison is working fine. It should not be much longer until I am available to be interrogated no more. 

I know how it works. 

I made it. 

I drank it. 

Of my own free will of course. You couldn't make me do something as foolhardy as that without having a good reason to. 

I do not want to tell. 

That is my good reason. I can not tell where my master is currently hidden. 

Despite planning my own death in this way- to protect my honour- I find myself wishing that it had turned out differently. That I could cuddle up to my mother by a fire, my family all around me, that I could say goodbye to them. That I could say goodbye to all my old friends. That I could die around the people I used to love, and the ones who used to love me. Not die in a corner of the ministry of magic head office. Being questioned by blundering idiots. 

Blind fools to what would soon happen. 

Even if I was not alive to see that be. 

My mind is slowing, my breathing becoming irregular and fast, my blood surging as fast as it could, my lungs gasping like a fish out of water. My muscles seizing up one by one. 

The final stages of the poison. This is exactly how it was supposed to work. 

Everything going according to plan. 

It was like watching my body burning in a lake of ice. 

Despite what I was now, who I was, part of me was longing to be what I had been, who I had been. 

A ripple of pain spreads through my body. Not sharp searing pain that made me want to scream but like pins and needles I think is the stupid Muggle expression. It made my body go numb where it hit. 

Tears flow out of my battered eye now. That brings physical pain but from far away. Like I'm not really feeling it. 

My body and my mind are working separately now. The body is panicking, trying to keep me alive. Trying to help me, save me. 

The mind has excepted it's fate. 

Then... it is nearly over now. Then... I can feel the pain turn to fire- if I had a voice left I would scream now. Then... Then... 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

I open my eyes. 

I scream. 

An ear splitting scream, a terrified, pure adrenaline effused scream that racks every muscle in my body. Making my whole body jolt in a mixture of fear, confusion and blind terror. 

I try to open my mouth, ask where I am but it will not work. I cannot speak as I am still screaming. 

Still screaming. I amy never stop. I have no power over my own voice. 

I stop screaming. 

No, I am still screaming but very quietly, tears streaming down my face. I feel a hand clamped over my mouth blocking most sound. 

"Keep quiet you idiot." A voice hisses at me. I try to focus my vision- find out who it was. Slowly the dizziness clears a bit and I'm able to blink away some of my tears. 

A hear a voice laugh at me. The same one. Peter Pettigrew. "Tears? Well what else could you expect from a weak little baby?" He laughed again. "Aren't you even going to say anything in your defence?"  
His silver hand was removed from my mouth. I realised that I wasn't screaming. I was furious again. I felt angry, I didn't like people laughing at me. 

I sat up to let him know that people never laughed at Ronald Weasly but I never managed. I fell down again. My back hitting wood and my head spinning quicker than ever. 

"Get up." Pettigrew snapped at me. 

"I... Ca... Can't." I managed to choke out the words. It felt like my throat had shrunken to less then a quarter of it's usual size. It even hurt to breathe, let alone speak. 

"Our master wants to talk to you. I suggest you find a way to get up." The voice was full of contempt as it dragged me upwards, through two corridors and pushed me inside a room before slamming the door behind me. 

I raise my face off the floor and try to look around me. The screaming and the tears have stopped but violent tremors still rake my body in almost every passing second. 

"Nice to meet you again." I heard a voice say. I recognised that voice. 

"Mas...Mast...Master." I manage to mutter. 

"Yes?" He enquires, moving his head slightly to the side looking slightly confused. 

"Where am I?" I say quietly. My throat is healing but my head still hasn't stopped spinning. 

"You are in my personal chamber Weasly. Now, if you are done with the stupid questions I have a few _sensible_ questions to ask you," he didn't wait for me to give any type of indication and just carried on talking, "I am disappointed in you. You tried to take the easy way out, give yourself death. You didn't think that I would let you do that did you? Your death would have been a disappointment of mine. The death of those stupid Ministry fools of which you let capture you however, was more of a slight joy. You have a choice now, as you seem possible unworthy of being a Deatheater after this long year in my service. Therefore you may return to your old life, live how you used to live, with who you used to live. Go back to being an dim-witted shadow beneath the shadows. The failure." 

"You know I can't go back." I say, the tears threatening to build up again as the memories assaulted my brain. 

"I know that but I don't think that you do. Your mind knows that they turned their backs on you the second they found out what, who you really are but your heart refuses to believe it. It wishes to return to more simple days. Maybe it needs a bit of convincing. Crucio." He muttered calmly and then a familiar sensation tore through my every one, muscle and vein. I pain so intense I couldn't even scream. Headaches and poison and past memories felt like nothing. Just insignificant, pathetic, worthless things like myself. 

When the pain finishes it feels strange. I feel like I always do after the curse, numb all over my body and my mind. 

"Now, let your heart speak. Not your brain or your body. Your heart. Which do you choose. Are you going back?"  
I searched then. Searched as hard and as deep inside me as I could. I wanted to say that I was going back. I wanted to. Somewhere, somewhere, somewhere. I had to still want to go back. 

I told my master the truth. What my heart felt. 

"I never want to go back." 

A/N: Please review. Chapter two should be up soon. 


	2. Completely Greener Grass

In The Core Of A Ruby by Brita*Chica 

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, all related characters and settings belong to J. K. Rowling. 

Chapter Two: Completely Greener Grass

I felt like I did when I first joined the deatheaters. Like I was free of all the pain and terror and horror and everything bad. 

Ironic. That was what I had finally become. 

Bad. Evil. A despised being made to roam beneath the ground until we all rise as the plan suggests. 

Most of us will die when we take over. All of those fools who try to fight us are getting ready. Someone told them of the plan. That person is dead now. Noone knows if the ministry killed him or if it was our master. Someone did. Not in a nice way either. The traitorous rat would have felt all the pain that he was entitled to through death. Though not enough if you ask me. 

Those who tell do not deserve any type of freedom. 

Some of the other deatheaters are acting strange around me. They might know about me getting caught. They might just be uneasy about me being around. Probably new ones. 

More people are trying to join our master's ranks since they have realised what side are going to win. Ours obviously. Hardly any of them have what it takes to become a deatheater though. It's funny to watch some of them. Stumbling around like idiots. Not knowing which and what way to turn and what they are supposed to be doing. There should be some more of them trying to join today. I'm on what is called idiot patrol. Which means that I have to clue them in on how to behave so that they don't die. 

It was very hard when I first joined. Firstly the entire prospect was daunting. Then there was fear of if I was taking the right course of action. Then there was all the tests to see if I could cope with being a deatheater. Then there was the dark mark ceremony. That one really hurt. Like live fire placed onto my skin. 

Which is what makes idiot patrol fun sometimes. It's a way to practice your curses, to test yourself as a deatheater and to generally see how strong your will power is. Sometimes we are on trial just as much as the new ones are. Which is less fun but it does sometimes mean that you can get promoted. 

Or killed but you have to take everything that gets thrown at you anyway. Might as well try to get to near the top whilst you have a proper chance. Instead of just sitting around looking confused and just waiting as the lowest grade type of deatheater until you die. 

I don't know what it is like near the top. I am only just off the bottom myself. I do not know if there is a name for the place that I am in now. All I know is that it is better. In theory then- the next place up would be even better than this one. As they always say, the grass is always greener... 

"Oi Weasley! Hurry up." The call jolted me out of my thoughts and I hurried behind the person to the room where all the new judging takes place. I had only been on idiot patrol once before. Only one of the ones I tested were strong enough to become a deatheater. The others were put to death immediately, well, some had time to think about it during torture. 

I looked through the door to the room and saw a whole group of people sitting there. Most shaking. Some bragging about how much they were going to become a deatheater, those were the ones who failed the most, some were... Some were... 

Ginny? 

A/N: The next chapter should be longer and quicker updated. Does anyone know the full name of Ginny? 


	3. Reaction

In the Core of a Ruby by Brita*Chica 

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, all related characters and settings belong to J. K. Rowling. 

Chapter Three: Reaction

Ginny? 

What in the world was she here for? 

Obviously there was some sort of mistake. She was not as stupid as this. What did she think she was doing. Or was she even thinking at all? 

At the exact moment that I saw her, my thoughts and feelings split into varied reactions. 

Reaction One: What is she doing here! How could she be so stupid. Doesn't she know that she will probably be killed. What kind of idiot is she? 

Reaction Two: Oh no, oh no! What if she is too weak to become a deatheater? I'll have to kill her. 

Reaction Three: At last- I can see someone from my family! 

Reaction Four: How would I look if my younger sister was better at being a deatheater than I was. 

Reaction Five: Noone better try and hit on her. I'll kill them. 

Reaction Six: Why does she not seem to be scared? 

It was impossible to tell which reaction was the strongest. They were all flitting through my brain. Clouding my vision and almost making me faint. Which would not be a good idea. Then I would be considered weak and probably killed myself. 

Which would, in my opinion, not be a good thing. 

The other person on idiot patrol with me did not look worried about anything. That was probably because he did not have his younger sister in front of him. 

The first test was coming up. Prisoner. When you had to use the forbidden curses on a prisoner. The more pain they felt and the stronger the curse was, the better you're score and the more of a chance that you would survive to become a deatheater. 

Everyone survived to the end of all the tests. Then the points were added up and anyone with a score of two hundred and fifty one points would not be killed. All of the others would be. 

I had enjoyed idiot patrol the last time that I did it. I had not known any of the people so I felt nothing towards them. 

This was going to be very different. 

A/N: The reason that this is a short is that I needed to move onto the tests next and it would be on a new chapter. 


	4. Tests

In the Core of a Ruby by Brita*Chica 

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, all related characters and settings belong to J. K. Rowling. 

Chapter Four: Tests

The first test managed to quieten a few of the would-be deatheaters. They looked up at the prisoner next to me with interest. It was my job to explain to them. 

"This test had three sections. Each one using a different one of the forbidden curses. If you do not know how to use these or you can not work out which curse to use then you have failed this test and you will most likely never be strong enough to become a deatheater. Firstly, you shall make your individual prisoner feel pain. Marks are given for how strong the pain is and for how contained. Secondly you shall make your prisoner tell you the most embarrassing moment of his or her life. Lastly, you shall kill your prisoner. Points for how quickly it happens." I showed them and then they started, without any of the others being able to look at them to work out what to do, by placing them in a soundproof small room. 

They went in alphabetical order. The one who stood out almost immediately was Kevin Tizz. The highest scorer with almost full points. 

The last one to go was Ginny. I tried to avoid her eyes when she was getting ready to perform her task but I don't know if she even saw or recognised me. She gave no indication of doing either. 

To both my surprise and my despair, Ginny knew exactly how to use the curses. I remember all my scores for the tests and she beat me at this one easily. The second highest in the group so far. 

Trying to ignore this I went back outside to the rest of the group. "Now is the time where you can gain extra points after the first two. You will be tested on skills that only some deatheaters posses but that might be useful to you. Firstly, step forward if you can do an invisibility spell on a Human." About ten people stepped forwards and I made them perform the spell on me to check. Only four of them were able to. The rest lost half of their points. The rest got five each. "Who can perform an invisibility spell on themselves?" I asked, this time noone could, or pretended that they could. 

The second test was to test how strong the will of the people were. "You must stay in a small area with a dementor for up to five minutes. Anyone who casts a spell shall loose all of their points so far. If you last less than a minute you get no points. One point for one minute or more. Two for two minutes or more and so on until five minutes has passed. The dementor will not touch you or kiss you. When you need let out, bang on the wall three times and the door shall be unlocked. For the untrusting among you, who should be everyone, the dementors will not bang on the wall themselves." 

A few people lasted only ten seconds or less in the room. Most were between two and three, Kevin Tizz lasted five and Ginny was at four minutes, fifty seconds. The time had come for the second point catch-up. 

"Who here can turn into a different type of animal?" Not many people moved forward. Ginny was one of them. You shall get ten points for each animal that you can turn into. Begin." 

I was intrigued to see what animal Ginny could turn into. When I was living at home I had never heard anything about it. It turned out to be a snake. I panicked when someone turned themselves into a large spider and I could see most of them trying to withhold sniggers. They wouldn't be laughing during the next test. 

It was to test how good agile they were. They would be placed into another room, with the thing that was their biggest fear, well, it was an apparition of it but they were not aware of that and, if they had been, that part of their memory had been erased before the start of the tests. Just like their fear had been recorded straight from their minds. They had to dodge the apparition for five minutes. Starting with a score of fifty, every time it touched them then they lost five. 

Ginny's fear was an apparition of a werewolf. She lost all of her points and quite a few of the ones from before when, for the first two minutes, she froze and the werewolf just kept patting her arm constantly until it had to chase her. 

The point catch-up had finished. Now the tests were going to get hard and serious. If they did not pass these ones then there was a slim chance that they would be alive after it all finished. I found myself torn between two emotions. Half of me wanted Ginny to pass the tests, to be able to live. The other half wanted her to fail, not so that she would die but so that she was not capable of becoming what I had turned into. A dark monster. 

"This test will see how strong your mental ability is. You have two minutes to complete a correct sequence of ten given shapes. Guessing will most likely mean that you will fail. The room is spell proof and there is another deatheater in there with a mute placed on him before he entered. You will need to take the positions out of his mind to get the right sequence. Five points are given for every shape in the correct place and, if it is all correct then you shall get an additional fifty points." My suspicions about Kevin Tizz were heightened when he got the sequence correct instantly. Ginny got the first nine shapes right but ran out of time on the last one. 

There was one more test to go. The hardest. The memory of it still haunted me. You had to sit alone in a completely dark room and a screen would appear with your impersonated loved ones saying how disappointed they were in you for various reasons. It also showed you killing each of them in various ways. You didn't even know what was going to happen in the room before you went into it, so that people did not have time to prepare if they were at the back end of the alphabet, over the ones at the front. They knew the door was unlocked however, so they could leave at any point. A lot of them left the instant they got there when they saw what was on the screen. 

It was all fake but it was the one that had been the worst for me. I had stayed through the entire thing to get the extra points that I had needed but it had hampered my performance until the poison incident when I was captured by the ministry of magic. 

After about half an hour it was all over. Idiot patrol was over and all of them were put back into the large room where they had started. It was different now though. Before, they were confident. Sure that they were going to survive. Now, however, noone looked sure. They were right to be as well. Most out of every group of newcomers never made it. 

Someone handed me the final results. 


End file.
